IWSMT-17

20 Apr 2026, 08:00 → 24 Apr 2026, 14:45 Europe/Zurich

Auditorium (PSI)

Yong Dai (PSI)

Scope

Since the first meeting was held in Oak Ridge, USA in 1996, the IWSMT series of conferences has been the main forum for exchanging the latest information on research on materials related to spallation neutron/muon sources, discussing outstanding issues encountered in the operation and development of high-power spallation targets, and establishing new international collaborations on related materials research topics.

 

Themes

Workshop themes include:

1. Progress of spallation neutron/muon sources and ADS projects with an emphasis on materials issues;
2. Fundamental studies on the effects of radiation damage, helium, hydrogen and other transmutation elements on materials: experimental studies and multiscale modeling;
3. Compatibility of structural materials with various coolants (liquid metals, water, gases): corrosion, erosion, embrittlement and related surface protection techniques;
4. Understanding and handling of volatile transmutation elements in spallation neutron/muron targets
5. R&D of innovative materials technologies for extreme irradiation environments in terms of proton/neutron fluxes, temperature, stress, corrosive coolant, etc.
6. R&D of post-irradiation examination technologies for spallation neutron/muon targets.
7. Application of materials data in target component design and safety studies.

 

Important dates:

Registration: Nov. 1, 2025 - Feb. 28, 2026.

Abstract submission: Dec. 1, 2025 - Feb. 28, 2026.

Booking the reserved hotel rooms: now – Jan. 31, 2026

Conference: April 20- 24, 2026

Monday 20 April

08:00 → 09:00 Registration at Auditorium Foyer

09:00 → 09:05 Welcome / Chair: Yong Dai (PSI)

09:05 → 09:20 Opening remarks / Chair: Andreas Pautz (PSI)

09:20 → 09:50 Plenary: P1-1 / Three Decades of Operational Experience with SINQ and an Overview of PSI`s Ultracold Neutron Source

Convener: Bertrand Blau (PSI)

09:20 → 10:50 Plenary: Plenary (1) - Facility Overvierw (1) / Chair Manuel Pouchon (PSI)

09:50 → 10:20 Plenary: P1-2 / Overview of operational experience and post irradiation examination at the Spallation Neutron Source

Convener: David McClintock (ORNL)

10:20 → 10:50 Plenary: P1-3 / HIMB - upgrade of the muon production at PSI / Andreas Knecht (PSI)

Convener: Andreas Knecht (PSI)

10:50 → 11:10 Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

11:10 → 11:30 Oral: O1-1 / Tensile properties of irradiated 6061-T6 aluminium from a proton beam window at the Spallation Neutron Source

Convener: David McClintock (ORNL)

11:10 → 12:30 Oral: Oral (1) - Radiation effects (1) / Chair: Stuart Maloy (PNNL)

11:30 → 11:50 Oral: O1-2 / Isotopes of Hydrogen, Helium and Heavier Noble Gases Produced in AI-6061 and Inc-718 SNS Proton Beam Windows

Convener: Wei Lu (ORNL)

11:50 → 12:10 Oral: O1-3 / Synergistic effect of ion irradiation and LBE corrosion on martensitic steel

Convener: Cunfeng Yao (IMP-CAS)

12:10 → 12:30 Oral: O1-4 / Irradiation temperature and mechanical properties in neutron irradiated ferritic steel

Convener: Benjamin Eftink (LANL)

12:30 → 13:45 Lunch at OASE

13:45 → 14:05 Oral: O2-1 / Irradiation Effects on ADS Materials in Liquid Metalunder Static and Flow Conditions

Convener: Nariaki Okubo (JAEA)

13:45 → 15:05 Oral: Oral (2) - Liquid metal effects (1) / Chair: Alessandro Marino (SCK-CEN)

14:05 → 14:25 Oral: O2-2 / Pb Working Fluid Properties and Behavior for a Spallation-Driven Actinide Transmutation Reactor

Convener: James Stubbins (Uni. Illinois)

14:25 → 14:45 Oral: O2-3 / Slurry erosion-corrosion response of Niobium as an alternative cladding material for neutron producing targets at ISIS

Convener: Herath Mudiyanselage (Sheffield Hallam Uni.)

14:45 → 15:05 Oral: O2-4 / Synergistic effect of ion irradiation and LBE corrosion on martensitic steef

Convener: Soyoung Kang (ORNL)

15:05 → 15:40 Group photo, Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

15:40 → 16:00 Oral: O3-1 / Operation Status and Upgrade of CSNS Target Station

Convener: Wen Yin (SCNS/IHEP-CAS)

15:40 → 17:00 Oral: Oral (3) - Target and materials R&D (1) / Chair: Shunsuke Makimura (KEK)

16:00 → 16:20 Oral: O3-2 / Facility Characterization and Upgrade Concepts for WNR: Metrology, Target Options and Beam Quality

Convener: Dusan Kral (LANL)

16:20 → 16:40 Oral: O3-3 / A Concept for Investigationg Irradiation-Induced Degradation in Welded Joints of ESS Moderator and Reflector Plug Components

Convener: Shabdali G. Ashwit (FZJ)

16:40 → 17:00 Oral: O3-4 / Development of the new Solid Deuterium Moderator Vessel at the UCN Facility at PSI Target and Materials R&D

Convener: Dominic Schori (PSI)

17:00 → 18:30 Reception at PSI

Tuesday 21 April

08:00 → 09:00 Registration at Auditorium Foyer

09:00 → 09:30 Plenary: P2-1 / Targetry and spallation technologies for current and future accelerator infrastructures at CERN

Convener: Marco Calviani (CERN)

09:00 → 10:30 Plenary: Plenary (2) - Facility overview (2) / Chair: Wen Yin (CSNS/IHEP-CAS)

09:30 → 10:00 Plenary: P2-2 / High-Power Target Material Research and Development at Fermilab

Convener: Kavin Ammigan (FNAL)

10:00 → 10:30 Plenary: P2-3 / Present status of the J-PARC mercury target system for pulsed spallation neutron source

Convener: Takashi Naoe (JAEA)

10:30 → 11:00 Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

11:00 → 11:20 Oral: O4-1 / Investigation of Helium–Vacancy Interactions in Nuclear Alloys via Positron Annihilation and Semi-Empirical Modeling

Convener: Vladimir Krsjak (Slovak Uni.)

11:00 → 12:20 Oral: Oral (4) / Radiation effects (2) / Chair: David Mclintock (ORNL)

11:20 → 11:40 Oral: O4-2 / Combined use of in-situ and ex-situ TEM to characterize irradiation induced dislocation loops in F/M alloy HT9

Convener: Djamel Kaoumi (North Carolina State Uni.)

11:40 → 12:00 Oral: O4-3 / Post-irradiation characterization of Spallation Neutron Source proton beam window materials

Convener: Timothy Lach (ORNL)

12:00 → 12:20 Oral: O4-4 / APT analysis of 9Cr- and 14Cr-ODS steels irradiated in the 7th STIP irradiation experiment

Convener: Minyi Zhang (PSI)

12:20 → 13:45 Lunch

13:45 → 14:05 Oral: O5-1 / Structural and compositional features of oxides formed in-situ on the surface of ferritic/martencitic (T91) and austenitic (AISI 316L, DIN 1.4970) steels after long-term contact with forced-convection Pb-Bi eutectic under controlled oxygen concentration

Convener: Valentyn Tsisar (SCK-CEN)

13:45 → 15:05 Oral: Oral (5) / Liquid metal effects (2) / Chair: Nariaki Okubo (JAEA)

14:05 → 14:25 Oral: O5-2 / The Effect of Stress on the Corrosion Behavior of Ferritic/Martensitic and Austenitic Stainless Steels in Liquid LBE

Convener: Zhiwei Ma (IMP-CAS)

14:25 → 14:45 Oral: O5-3 / SNS 2 MW mercury target strain data evaluation and analysis

Convener: Hao Jiang (ORNL)

14:45 → 15:05 Oral: O5-4 / Investigation of liquid LBE embrittlement effects on SIMP steel by low-strain-rate tensile tests

Convener: Hongpeng Zhang (IMP-CAS)

15:05 → 15:30 Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

15:30 → 15:50 Oral: O6-1 / Conceptual Design of the Futrue Megawatt-Level Spallation Neutron Source Target for CSNS

Convener: Ruiqiang Zhang (CSNS/IHEP-CAS)

15:30 → 17:30 Oral: Oral (6) / Target and materials R&D (2) / Chair: Marco Calviani (CERN)

15:50 → 16:10 Oral: O6-2 / Conceptual Design and Material Behavior Analysis of a Target–Moderator–Reflector Assembly for Accelerator-Based ⁹⁹Mo Production

Convener: Tarek El-Kordy (FZJ)

16:10 → 16:30 Oral: O6-3 / Updates of a Helium Cooled, High Density Target Design at the SPS Beam Dump Facility (BDF) at CERN

Convener: Michael Parkin (CERN)

16:30 → 16:50 Oral: O6-4 / Development of the TATTOOS spallation target at PSI

Convener: Rémi Martinie (PSI)

16:50 → 17:10 Oral: O6-5 / CERN-ISOLDE targets for radioactive ion beam production

Convener: Simon Stegemann (CERN)

17:10 → 17:30 Oral: O6-6 / Status of Target Systems R&D for the Second Target Station of the Spallation Neutron Source

Convener: Yongjoong Lee (ORNL)

17:30 → 17:50 End of the day

Wednesday 22 April

09:00 → 09:20 Oral: O7-1 / Irradiation Effect of Candidate Structural Materials for Accelerator Driven System in IMPCAS

Convener: Tielong Shen (IMP-CAS)

09:00 → 10:20 Oral: Oral (7) / Radiation effects (3) / Chair: Benjamin Eftink (LANL)

09:20 → 09:40 Oral: O7-2 / Microstructural characterization of target cladding materials and interfaces for the Spallation Neutron Source Second Target Station

Convener: Timothy Lach (ORNL)

09:40 → 10:00 Oral: O7-3 / Structural and mechanical responses of SiC-TiC composites under sequential dual-beam irradiation

Convener: Yabin Zhu (IMP-CAS)

10:00 → 10:20 Oral: O7-4 / Mechanical properties evaluation technique on radiation damaged materials using indentation test

Convener: Takashi Wakui (JAEA)

10:20 → 10:50 Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

10:50 → 11:10 Oral: O8-1 / Resistivity of Frenkel Pairs in tungsten and titanium from First Principles

Convener: Jatinder Singh (Uni. Birmingham)

10:50 → 12:10 Oral: Oral (8) / Radiation effects (4) / Chair: Vladimir Krsjak (Slovak Uni.)

11:10 → 11:30 Oral: O8-2 / Hardness and Defect Evolution in Tungsten under Hydrogen–Helium Mixed-Beam Implantation at Different Temperatures

Convener: Minghuan Cui (IMP-CAS)

11:30 → 11:50 Oral: O8-3 / Effects of X-rays on commercial polymeric materials up to MGy doses for extreme applications: methodology and examples

Convener: Matilde Avesani (Uni. Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne)

11:50 → 12:10 Oral: O8-4 / Study on the Microstructural Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Nuclear-Silicon Carbide Materials under Silica-Helium Dual-Beam Irradiation

Convener: Lijuan Niu (IMP-CAS)

12:10 → 13:30 Lunch at OASE

13:30 → 15:30 Lab Tour: Group 2 / Visit PSI`s Hot Laboratory: Lab Tour

Conveners: Alina Horwege (PSI), Manuel Pouchon (PSI), Roger Brun (PSI), Yong Dai (PSI)

13:30 → 15:30 Lab tour: Group 1 / Visit Swiss Spallatiion Source (SINQ) and Swiss Light Source (SLS)

Conveners: Bertrand Blau (PSI), Dominic Schori (PSI), Malgorzata Makowska (PSI)

15:30 → 15:50 Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

15:50 → 16:10 Oral: O9-1 / Design of 500 kW Solid Target for China Spallation Neutron Source

Convener: Shaohong Wei (CSNS/IHEP-CAS)

15:50 → 17:30 Oral: Oral (9) / Target and materials R&D (3) / Chair: Bertrand Blau (PSI)

16:10 → 16:30 Oral: O9-2 / Thermal simulations for SINQ Target 13 and the development of the new safety system TBPS

Convener: Sven Jollet (PSI)

16:30 → 16:50 Oral: O9-3 / Investigating Hydrogen-Helium Synergistic Radiation Damage Behavior in High-Entropy Alloys via Slow-Beam Positron Annihilation Lifetime Studies

Convener: Yamin Song (Slovak Uni.)

16:50 → 17:10 Oral: O9-4 / Monte Carlo Predictions of Radiation Damage in the ISIS TS1 Target and Indirect Experimental Benchmarking

Convener: Lina Quintieri (STFC-UKRI)

17:10 → 17:30 Oral: O9-5 / ORNL Second Target Station: Target Construction and Function

Convener: Lukas Bearden (ORNL)

17:30 → 17:50 End of the day

Thursday 23 April

08:30 → 08:50 Oral: O10-1 / FRIB Beam Dump Design, Operation Experience, and Future Development

Convener: Samuel Miller (MSU)

08:30 → 09:50 Oral: Oral (10) / Target and materials R&D (4) / Chair: Ruiqiang Zhang (CSNS/IHEP-CAS)

08:50 → 09:10 Oral: O10-2 / Development of Carbon-Nanotube Reinforced Tungsten Alloy

Convener: Shunsuke Makimura (KEK)

09:10 → 09:30 Oral: O10-3 / H and He Production Cross Sections below 200 MeV for Material Radiation Damage

Convener: Wei Lu (ORNL)

09:30 → 09:50 Oral: O10-4 / Progress on CSNS-PIE

Convener: Chongguang Zhao (CSNS/IHEP-CAS)

09:50 → 10:10 Coffee/Tea Break at CURIE/Park Innovaare

10:10 → 12:20 Special Session for the 30th Anniversary of IWSMT: Chair: Yong Dai (PSI)

10:10 → 10:20 Special Session for the 30th Anniversary of IWSMT: S-1 / Welcome to IWSMT

Convener: L.K. Mansur (ORNL)

10:20 → 10:50 Special Session for the 30th Anniversary of IWSMT: S-2 / Spiral staircase to implement project and science - from macro to micro scales and vice versa -

Convener: Masatoshi Futakawa (JAEA)

10:50 → 11:20 Special Session for the 30th Anniversary of IWSMT: S-3 / A Personal Journey with the SNS Mercury Target

Convener: Bernie Riemer (ORNL)

11:20 → 11:50 Special Session for the 30th Anniversary of IWSMT: S-4 / A Historical Summary of High Dose Irradiations Performed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (1996-2000)

Convener: Stuart Maloy (PNNL)

11:50 → 12:20 Special Session for the 30th Anniversary of IWSMT: S-5 / Review of STIP irradiation experiments

Convener: Yong Dai (PSI)

12:20 → 13:30 Lunch at OASE

13:30 → 20:00 Boat trip Zürich Lake and Conference Dinner at Zeughauskeller / Chair: Yong Dai

Public bus starts from PSI East to Baden at 13:39 i.e.1:39pm, to Brugg at 13:32

15:30 → 16:30 Group 2: Boat trip starts at Bürkliplatz Zürich / Chair: Yong Dai

16:30 → 17:45 Boat trip starts at Bürkliplatz Zürich / Chair: Yong Dai: Group 2

18:00 → 20:00 Conference Dinner: Dinner at restaurant Zeughauskeller

Friday 24 April

08:30 → 09:00 Plenary: P3-1 / Research and development for isotope production at PSI

Convener: Robert Eichler (PSI)

08:30 → 10:00 Plenary: Plenary (3) / Facility overview (3) / Chair: Yong Dai

09:00 → 09:30 Plenary: P3-2 / MEGAPIE revisited (20 years after)

Convener: Friedrich Groeschel (PSI)

09:30 → 10:00 Plenary: P3-3 / Heavy Liquid Metal Coolant Technology R&D Supporting the SMR LFR LEANDREA

Convener: Alessandro Marino (SCK-CEN)

10:00 → 10:05 Closing Remark / Chair: Yong Dai

10:05 → 10:30 Coffee/Tea Break at Auditorium Foyer

11:30 → 12:30 Lunch at OASE